LA TRINIDAD, Benguet – Some six hundred twenty five business establishments in the municipality remain closed following the strict implementation of the community quarantine guidelines to combat the spread of the dreaded Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19).
Mayor Romeo K. Salda said the businesses that are still closed include liquor stores, resto-bars, massage parlors, computer shops, among other establishments, that are prohibited to operate under the current modified general community quarantine (MGCQ).
Based on the data from the municipal permits and licensing office, there are more than 9,200 business establishments granted by the municipal government with the permits to operate pursuant to the provisions of Republic Act (RA) 7160 or the Local Government Code of the Philippines.
Of the businesses that had been closed, the local chief executive claimed that some 300 establishments are registered as resto-bars, while another 300 businesses are computer shops located in the town’s 13 barangays.
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Mayor Salda admitted the continued closure of the aforesaid business establishments has serious negative impacts on the revenue generation efforts of the municipal government as it only received more than P319 million from its projected P418 million annual budget, causing approximately P100 million in possible deficit.
According to him, by this time of the year, the municipal government should have collected more than 95 percent of the projected income or a minimal shortfall that could be augmented by the collections until the end of the year.
Aside from the non-operation of a significant number of businesses in the municipality, Salda claimed one of the factors that significantly affected the projected income of the municipal government is the waiving of the rentals in all municipal-owned properties for some 105 days or during the period of the community quarantine period as fixed by the municipal council pursuant to an approved ordinance.
The municipal mayor pointed out that local officials understand the predicament of business owners that had been heavily impacted by the implementation of the community quarantine which caused the virtual stoppage of economic activities in the different parts of the world, thus, appropriate austerity measures will be formulated to ensure there will be no budget deficit of the municipal government by the end of the year.
La Trinidad is a first-class municipality and is qualified to be converted into a component city as it is already compliant to two of the criteria of a city such as in terms of land area and population.
However, its land area of more than 8,000 hectares is short of some 2,000 hectares to meet the minimum land area of a first-class municipality to be converted into a component city pursuant to the provisions of the Local Government Code of the Philippines.
Salda appealed to local officials and employees to understand the implementation of belt-tightening measures to ensure that the municipal government will not incur a huge budget deficit by the end of the year.
By Hent
Photo by: Armando M. Bolislis
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